PETA’s Victories for Animals

From Kashmir to Kerala, PETA India has won countless victories for animals since we opened our doors in January 2000, including rescuing animals abused in circuses and laboratories, convincing designers to shun leather and conducting investigations into factory farms and other industries that cause animal suffering on a massive scale.

We filed suit in India’s Supreme Court over the suffering animals endure in zoos and the leather trade and have written letters to government officials in every state and union territory. We have also worked with celebrities to get the word out about animal issues. Our street theatre protests – everything from caged “tigers” protesting against the circus to life-sized “cows” speaking out against the use of bullock-drawn oil carts – have made headlines around the world.

The following are just a few examples of PETA India’s many accomplishments in the past 10 years:

After we released a report detailing how elephants suffer when they are forced to walk on congested city streets, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, New Delhi, Assam, Maharashtra and Sikkim prohibited elephants from entering the city limits.

As a result of a case we filed with the Supreme Court concerning the inhumane conditions in zoos across the country, the High Court of Mumbai ordered zoos to make major improvements, including implementing animal population-control measures, improving security, banning public feedings of animals and most significantly, prohibiting zoos from acquiring more animals unless they are able to provide appropriate housing for them.

After years of campaigning and repeated complaints from PETA to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) about the mental and physical suffering of elephants in zoos, the CZA ordered the transfer of all captive elephants to government-operated sanctuaries.

PETA has conducted investigations into India’s dairy, poultry and fishing industries and released reports detailing the cruelty and the environmental devastation associated with factory farming and commercial fishing. During our first year of operation, we released shocking video footage from our investigation inside Mumbai’s Deonar abattoir that showed severely injured and dead and dying cows.

Countless celebrities have joined forces with PETA in letter-writing and ad campaigns. From actors to athletes and politicians to musicians, our celebrity supporters – including John Abraham, Shilpa Shetty, Celina Jaitly, Hema Malini and Maneka Gandhi – have lent their star power to our vegetarian, entertainment, leather, wool and other campaigns.

From Lettuce Ladies to “bloodied” bodies wrapped in cellophane for our “Meat Is Murder” campaign, our street theatre and other attention-grabbing protests have helped open thousands of people’s eyes to the horrors of factory farming and the benefits of a vegetarian diet.

Maneka Gandhi sent a letter on PETA’s behalf to more than 100 companies urging them to ban Australian wool, and we convinced top Indian fashion designers – such as Hemant Trivedi, who once designed and organised the annual International Leather Fair in Chennai – to stop using both leather and Australian wool.

With the financial support of Bollywood star John Abraham, PETA created a new department specifically committed to helping India’s beleaguered stray animals. Shortly after the department’s inception, the Animal Welfare Board of India agreed to our request for improved enforcement of existing laws.

PETA rescued 21 monkeys from the National Institute of Research in Reproductive Health and uncovered horrific conditions at the National Institute of Virology in Pune, which led to the confiscation of 37 monkeys and two goats, who were taken to a rehabilitation facility.

We filed suit in the Supreme Court of India against the Union of India, each state-level government and the Animal Welfare Board of India charging them with lax enforcement of laws protecting animals in the leather trade.

As a result of PETA’s international call to boycott leather, former Prime Minister Vajpayee sent a directive to all state governments instructing them to crack down on the horrific abuse of cattle used in the industry, and the Indian Council for Leather Exports agreed to implement its first-ever animal welfare programme.

Animal Rahat, a programme supported by PETA, helps working animals by providing everything from much-needed veterinary services to free sun shades for animals, educating owners about basic care and offering a retirement plan that allows animals who are too old or sick to continue working to live out their last years in peace and comfort.

PETA has persuaded 15 universities – including Nalanda Open University, Madurai Kamaraj University and Pondicherry University – to abandon animal dissections and to stop forcing pharmacy students to perform experiments on animals.